Lady of the Barge | Page 4

down the fo'c'sle and staying there till we've made fast," said the other. "I'd take it as a favour. My owners don't like me to carry passengers."
Miss Harris, who understood perfectly, said, "Certainly," and with a cold stare at the mate, who was at no pains to conceal his amusement, went below at once, thoughtfully closing the scuttle after her.
"There's no call to make mischief, Ted," said the skipper, somewhat anxiously, as they swept round the last bend and came into view of Coalsham.
The mate said nothing, but stood by to take in sail as they ran swiftly toward the little quay. The pace slackened, and the Arabella, as though conscious of the contraband in her forecastle, crept slowly to where a stout, middle-aged woman, who bore a strong likeness to the mate, stood upon the quay.
"There's poor Loo," said the mate, with a sigh.
The skipper made no reply to this infernal insinuation. The barge ran alongside the quay and made fast.
"I thought you'd be up," said Mrs. Gibbs to her husband. "Now come along to breakfast; Ted 'll follow on."
Captain Gibbs, dived down below for his coat, and slipping ashore, thankfully prepared to move off with his wife.
"Come on as soon as you can, Ted," said the latter. "Why, what on earth is he making that face for?"
She turned in amazement as her brother, making a pretence of catching her husband's eye, screwed his face up into a note of interrogation and gave a slight jerk with his thumb.
"Come along," said Captain Gibbs, taking her arm with much affection.
"But what's Ted looking like that for?" demanded his wife, as she easily intercepted another choice facial expression of the mate's.
"Oh, it's his fun," replied her husband, walking on.
"Fun?" repeated Mrs. Gibbs, sharply. "What's the matter, Ted."
"Nothing," replied the mate.
"Touch o' toothache," said the skipper. "Come along, Loo; I can just do with one o' your breakfasts."
Mrs. Gibbs suffered herself to be led on, and had got at least five yards on the way home, when she turned and looked back. The mate had still got the toothache, and was at that moment in all the agonies of a phenomenal twinge.
"There's something wrong here," said Mrs. Gibbs as she retraced her steps. "Ted, what are you making that face for?"
"It's my own face," said the mate, evasively.
Mrs. Gibbs conceded the point, and added bitterly that it couldn't be helped. All the same she wanted to know what he meant by it.
"Ask John," said the vindictive mate.
Mrs. Gibbs asked. Her husband said he didn't know, and added that Ted had been like it before, but he had not told her for fear of frightening her. Then he tried to induce her to go with him to the chemist's to get something for it.
Mrs. Gibbs shook her head firmly, and boarding the barge, took a seat on the hatch and proceeded to catechise her brother as to his symptoms. He denied that there was anything the matter with him, while his eyes openly sought those of Captain Gibbs as though asking for instruction.
"You come home, Ted," she said at length.
"I can't," said the mate. "I can't leave the ship."
"Why not?" demanded his sister.
"Ask John," said the mate again.
At this Mrs. Gibbs's temper, which had been rising, gave way altogether, and she stamped fiercely upon the deck. A stamp of the foot has been for all time a rough-and-ready means of signalling; the fore-scuttle was drawn back, and the face of a young and pretty girl appeared framed in the opening. The mate raised his eyebrows with a helpless gesture, and as for the unfortunate skipper, any jury would have found him guilty without leaving the box. The wife of his bosom, with a flaming visage, turned and regarded him.
[Illustration: "YOU VILLAIN!" SHE, SAID, IN A CHOKING VOICE]
"You villain!" she said, in a choking voice.
Captain Gibbs caught his breath and looked appealingly at the mate.
"It's a little surprise for you, my dear," he faltered, "it's Ted's young lady."
"Nothing of the kind," said the mate, sharply.
"It's not? How dare you say such a thing?" demanded Miss Harris, stepping on to the deck.
"Well, you brought her aboard, Ted, you know you did," pleaded the unhappy skipper.
The mate did not deny it, but his face was so full of grief and surprise that the other's heart sank within him.
"All right," said the mate at last; "have it your own way."
"Hold your tongue, Ted," shouted Mrs. Gibbs; "you're trying to shield him."
"I tell you Ted brought her aboard, and they had a lover's quarrel," said her unhappy spouse. "It's nothing to do with me at all."
"And that's why you told me Ted had got the toothache, and tried to get me off to the chemist's, I s'pose," retorted his wife, with virulence. "Do you think I'm a fool?